Expect two more years for Alex Ferguson as he plans to make Manchester United better

The question of Sir Alex Ferguson calling it a day was almost an afterthought late last night, when he put in a rare appearance at the Old Trafford press conference theatre where he has resolutely refused to address journalists for years.

He answered with a joke about Manchester United’s 20th title, his 13th, taking 10 years off him, something about the tablets he is taking — “Bloody hell, they’re great!” — and with that he was up and away, to cherish a title which has been an obsession because of the way Manchester City deposed his team last May.

He was talking about the number of times he has had to put the disappointment of runners-up position behind him when he came up with words reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher, whom he detested, but they apply equally to his own career intentions.

“I could go on and on and on,” he said. Two more years is a good bet.

The euphoria of the newly reclaimed title loosened him up, which meant that this brief press appearance was a less guarded and more revealing one than usual.

Ferguson (above) usually bridles, for example, when the subject of last season’s 6-1 Old Trafford defeat to Manchester City crops up. But last night he said he thinks “that stupid performance” cost United the title.

The excitement he feels for the 2013-14 season is borne of the fact that he believes this squad — with half a dozen or more players under the age of 23 now acquainted with how it feels to win a League — are ready to kick on.

The manager twice made the extraordinary statement last night that Phil Jones, at centre-back in the 3-0 defeat of Aston Villa which clinched the title, “May be one of the best players we have ever signed.” After this, his breakthrough season, Rafael da Silva “will compare with Gary Neville,” he added. These comments should not be taken at face value. They are examples of Ferguson using the press conference to deliver motivational messages to his players. But they do demonstrate that he feels a period of transition is complete and that rewards may be reaped now.

There will still be summer transfer market activity, to deliver that topping up and replenishment that is part of the annual cycle for Ferguson.

Wilfried Zaha’s transfer from Crystal Palace was completed in January, delivering a 20-year-old to fill the space we can expect Nani to vacate by leaving this summer. (Nani was less than animated when he trooped from the bench to join his team-mates’ celebrations last night.)

But central midfield really does look like it needs some personnel.

Anderson could leave for Porto at the end of the season, having failed to realise his potential since Ferguson paid the club £25.7million for him, and the pursuit last summer of Lucas Moura, who left Sao Paulo for Paris St-Germain instead, showed Ferguson is looking for attacking options.

It would be typical of the Scotsman to hold on to Anderson and sell when he has found an A-list replacement. Porto’s James Rodriguez is a player he has observed.

The biggest media preoccupation of the summer will be Wayne Rooney, who wants to stay and extend the £250,000-a-year contract which he signed when in a stronger negotiating position than now.

His deep-lying midfield role, subsidiary to Shinji Kagawa — another Ferguson believes will make a bigger impact in 2013-14 — revealed a new pecking order. Javier Hernandez wants more football, too, and Borussia Dortmund’s 24-year-old Robert Lewandowski, who was informed by his club of a United bid last summer, will wait to see how the Rooney and Hernandez situations play out before deciding between Old Trafford and Bayern Munich.